Mystery Photo No. 31

It was 42 years ago when these candidates for Miss Junior Achievement lined up for a photo in the offices of McGraw-Edison Power Systems, where the group’s meetings were held.

We now can identify all the young women in the photo, thanks to Linda Betsch of Washington, who recognized her sister in the high-hemmed lineup. Her sister, Sue Turberville David, who was a Trinity High School student at the time, is standing on the far right. Betsch managed to locate the original photo and caption in the Feb. 1, 1971, Observer-Reporter and determined that the image we published last Monday was reversed. The picture published today is the order in which the girls actually stood, and close inspection of the buttons on their clothing proves it.

“My sister Sue is now married and lives in West Finley,” Betsch wrote in an email. “She works in the area and lives a very quiet life with her husband and dogs.”

We also heard from Nancy Lasorchak Martinez, who is in the center of the photo and was named Miss Junior Achievement in 1971. After graduating from Canon-McMillan High School later that year, she attended California University of Pennsylvania and began working for PNC Bank. “I’ve just celebrated my 39th anniversary working for PNC,” said Martinez, who is assistant to the financial adviser for the Washington area. A widow, Martinez has two married daughters and two grandchildren, all living in the Washington area. She said one of her sons-in-law, also a banker, is, coincidentally, a Junior Achievement leader.

Myrtle Campbell called us to identify herself. Standing second from left, she was a Canon-McMillan sophomore at the time. “I was runner-up that year, but the following year I was Miss Junior Achievement, and I was runner-up again my senior year,” she said. “In JA, they taught us about productivity and all about products, how to sell and distribute them.”

Campbell resides in Canonsburg and has three daughters. “The oldest is married and has a family, and I baby-sit for my grandchildren five days a week,” she said.

According to the information found by Betsch, the girl on the far left is Joyce Strnisa, from Canon-McMillan, and the one fourth from left is Kathy Corry, who would graduate from Peters Township High School in 1972. We were unable to locate either of them.

We received several more emails and calls about our previous Mystery Photo, which remains unsolved. Readers suggested that the house with the horses and buggy beside it might have been in Canonsburg, or in Rices Landing. We’ll investigate these claims and report back to you later.